Bears Q&A: John Fox's job security, Jay Cutler vs. Tony Romo and more

If the Bears came out before the season say “we are still rebuilding,” this season would look better on them agree? -- @aguzman1969

That wouldn’t really change anything in my mind. They’re 2-8 right now and barring a string of victories that I don’t think anyone reasonably expects at this point, the record is going to get worse before the season ends. Injuries have played a significant role in the struggles of the team this season. There’s no question about that. But had they been healthy, I don’t know this is much more than a 4-6 football team at this point. You’d feel a whole lot differently about 4-6 than you do 2-8 -- but a 4-6 record would still land the Bears in big pack of mediocre teams. You know why you don’t come out and declare a rebuild? Look at what the Kansas City Chiefs did. Andy Reid inherited a bad roster that was coming off a miserable 2-14 season in 2012. The Chiefs didn’t even hit on the No. 1 overall pick they got -- offensive lineman Eric Fisher -- and they went 11-5 the following season. A teardown on the fly can be accomplished. It’s certainly not easy and it’s not going to be easy for the Bears to build this back up. But it’s the NFL and turnarounds can be completed in shorter periods of time than you think of with other sports. Another point to consider is I think most people are savvy enough to understand what is going on. They are trying to build it back up. They are rebuilding. But while you’re in the midst of that process, your goal is to compete.

How long do we realistically have to wait to see the Bears compete for the playoffs again? Two to four years? -- @hawa_hussein

How long do you have? The Bears are not going to make the playoffs this season and 10 years removed from their appearance in Super Bowl XLI, they will have reached the postseason just one time. I think the Bears are a ways away from competing and I say that because they’re at the bottom of their division and look likely to finish last in the NFC North for the third consecutive year. You’ve got to be able to compete in your own division before you can think about competing in the playoffs. I like the Packers’ chances of getting things turned around better than the Bears’ chances right now too. Green Bay has Aaron Rodgers, who, while he has not played well this season or in parts of last season, is still a better option than what the Bears have right now. But I think it’s fair to believe the Bears can complete for the playoffs in two seasons. That should be the expectation anyway. If some of the young players continue to develop and they can draft well, they should have a nucleus of players that will strengthen the roster. Otherwise, it will have meant three or four seasons of spinning the wheels since the end of the Phil Emery/Marc Trestman era.

When the Bears hired John Fox they switched to a 3-4 defense. Will this factor into any head coaching change? -- @TonyHipflexor

If you’re going to consider a coaching change, I think you need to put everything on the table and when I say everything, I mean everything. It at least needs to be open for discussion. If not, you can find yourself in a situation like the Bears had in 2013 when they hired Mel Tucker to run another man’s defense. That didn’t work out so well, did it? That of course was after the miscalculation was made that Rod Marinelli would love nothing better than to remain employed at Halas Hall and work for a coach other than the one who had hired him. See what I mean? That being said, it would have to be a consideration and something that was discussed given personnel fits. Everything has to be open for discussion and change. But right now I don’t see the Bears changing head coaches after the season.

The first step in restoring credibility amongst the fans is to go to Ann Arbor and don't leave without Jim Harbaugh. Your thoughts? -- @Rradulski

My thoughts on your opinion? Why would Harbaugh want to leave what he’s building at Michigan to take over the Bears? The NFL is king over college football but there were reports last month that Harbaugh could begin earning $10 million per season at Michigan. How many NFL franchises do you see ponying up that kind of coin for a head coach? The Bears haven’t done so well when they’ve courted the big man on campus in the past before either. They couldn’t land Nick Saban in 2004 because he wanted more power than those in charge were willing to cede. I would imagine Harbaugh would probably want a lot of control as well. And as far as credibility with the fans, there have not been as many empty seats at Soldier Field this season as you might expect. I think Harbaugh is an unrealistic goal at this point, for a variety of reasons.

Who are some quarterbacks the Bears could look at in the second or third round? -- @Pbrady55

The most unlucky number is believed to be 13, a digit that portends such calamitous events there is a word to describe the antipathy it causes — triskaidekaphobia. With all that in mind, the fact the Bears haven't selected a quarterback in the first round of the NFL draft in 13 years is richly...

(Brad Biggs)

It's never to early to dream of the future. Particularly when NFL teams are struggling. -- John Harris, Special to The Washington Post

It’s too early to try slotting some of these guys for the draft, especially when we don’t know what underclassmen are going to leave school early for the NFL. Quarterbacks are typically overdrafted because of the supply-and-demand factor. You’ve got to reach to get one. One of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL this season is Oakland’s Derek Carr, a second-round pick in 2014. The league has also seen players like Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins and Dak Prescott emerge in the last couple years. But quarterbacks are a roll of the dice in every round. Let’s just look at those drafted in the second and third rounds, as you suggest, over the past decade.

Everyone is going to be in search of the next Carr. You can bet on that. I’m not sure that player exists this year.

Marc Trestman in two seasons was 13-19. John Fox is 8-18 and his record will likely be worse after two seasons. Talent is about the same. Why is Fox’s job safe? -- @MustBillJacuzzi

I received this question in about four different forms this week and it’s been talked about on the radio as well. I get it. Everyone is out for blood after another Bears season gone bad. They want someone to pay for a rotten season. They want someone to meet their professional demise as payback for the investment of time, emotions and disposable income in a team that has gone from mediocre to worse. Reality is if the Bears continue to cycle through head coaches and general managers, they will become the Browns. Or they will become the Raiders (prior to this season). Those franchises put the pedal to the metal when it comes to turnover in the front office and on the coaching side of things and they’ve paid a high price. Is that reason alone to keep Fox? No. But Fox’s team has deal with more injuries than Trestman’s did and things haven’t become completely unhinged inside Halas Hall. Also, consider the Bears have paid Trestman for 2015 and they are paying him for this season. That means two years of paying two head coaches. Fox is signed through the 2018 season. If they launch him after this season, the McCaskeys will wind up paying two head coaches for four consecutive seasons. That seems unlikely, doesn’t it?

Why won't the Bears give Daniel Braverman a shot? What do they have to lose? -- @jhindman1079

I have gotten more Braverman questions this season than almost any other player on the roster. He’s not the cure-all for what is wrong this season, I can assure you that. This coaching staff has shown no hesitation playing young players across the board, so I would interpret that to mean Braverman isn’t ready for a shot. He’s not going to be better as a rookie than a savvy veteran like Eddie Royal. I don’t know how many times I have written that Wes Welker, who far too many people want to compare Braverman to, did not catch a single pass in his first two seasons. Here’s the other thing: Players know where they stack up in the locker room and they know where their teammates stack up. If Braverman isn’t ready and they give him a shot anyway, what kind of message does that send to other players? Maybe an opening will happen in the final six weeks or maybe we’ll have to wait until next summer to see him play.

Lots of rumors about Tony Romo. If the Bears draft a quarterback with a high pick and get rid of Jay Cutler, would you take him? Why? Why not? -- @NicholasMoreano

You’ve got to be kidding, right? Romo is a sensational guy and has been a very good player in the NFL for a long time. The way he’s handled his situation with Dak Prescott taking over the Cowboys offense was magnificent. Romo gets it and he’s a first-class teammate in Dallas. Now, let me count the reasons why this is a bad idea. For starters, why would Romo want to come to the Bears? They’re going to be coming off a rotten season, they will be in search of their quarterback of the future and he’s going to want to play and play for a team that can compete. Romo isn’t going to want to go anywhere on the cheap. Why would the Bears want to pay him big money? Romo missed 12 games last season and the back injury this season knocked him out of the first half. That’s 20 games, give or take one or two because of the back, for a guy that is going to turn 37 in April. Yes, Romo and general manager Ryan Pace have a secret Eastern Illinois handshake going. Yes, he’s from Burlington, Wis., which isn’t too far away. No, I don’t see any way this happens and if it does, it won’t make any sense.

It seems that the Bears were not prepared in the event that Jay Cutler got injured. Is this incompetence or do they know something we don't? -- @scotbear11

If by being not prepared you mean they’ve had three quarterbacks lost to serious injuries, then yes, I would agree. Brian Hoyer has a broken left arm. Connor Shaw suffered a broken left leg. Now, Cutler has a shoulder injury that follows the thumb injury he had earlier this season. That’s a lot of injuries at the quarterback position. As Bill Parcells famously once said, you can’t find them at 1-800-Quarterback. There are valid reasons to criticize the Bears for some of the shortcomings this season, outside of the injuries. I don’t believe this would make my top five.